Tanja Askani reveals the wolf as a highly intelligent, social, sensitive creature that brings inestimable value to healthy natural systems. This stigmatized predator is one part of our natural world whose value and wisdom we are just beginning to understand. Askani demonstrates a new way of relating to wolves and to the world as a whole.

Description

About Kinship with the Wolf

A lavishly illustrated, heartfelt examination of the wolf as a spiritual and ecological role model

• Dispels the myths of the wolf as a “blood-thirsty predator”

• Shows the spiritual importance of connecting to the creatures of the natural world

• Tells the story of the author’s 8 years of living with wolves at the Lüneburger Heide Wildlife Preserve in Germany

In the past, animals had worth to people only if they were edible, could carry heavy loads obediently, or had some other practical use. Recently, however, we have started to realize what we have lost through the extinction of so many wild creatures. Every step we take away from nature we pay for with a loss of understanding and wisdom. What we persecute and exterminate in the outer world we also eradicate in our souls. The highly stigmatized wolf, brought nearly to extinction by humans, is one part of our natural world whose value and wisdom we are just beginning to understand.

In Kinship with the Wolf, Tanja Askani reveals a new facet of relating to wolves and to the world as a whole. Unlike other wolf researchers who strive to dominate these “vicious predators” and who measure their success by how much the wolf pack obeys them, Askani bases her wolf relationships on broad respect and knowledge as well as extraordinary empathy and love. She reveals a new picture of the wolf as a highly intelligent, social, sensitive creature that brings inestimable value to healthy natural systems. Her respect for the pack’s autonomous rules and her sensitivity to the wolves’ changing feelings and moods clearly distinguishes her from others who work with wolves. Her ability to communicate with and relate to wolves is a model of how we can respond to the intelligent complexity of life with care, respect, and wisdom and how we can maintain an intensive connection to the natural world without exercising human dominance.

Excerpt

Book Excerpt

NANUK

Flocke and Chinook get along outstandingly well, and I very much hope that they will finally have pups. Unfortunately, the wolf pack doesn’t exactly appear to be savvy when it comes to mating, and so the den remains empty this spring, to my great disappointment. At nine years old, Chinook is probably getting too old to produce offspring.

After long deliberation, I decide to enlarge our little wolf pack by one member. In case anything should happen to Chinook, Flocke would then have a new companion with whom she is already familiar. I decide to get a young male and raise him on a bottle to get him used to people. In this way it will be easier to integrate the pup into the existing tame pack without fear or shyness.

The second wolf pack, into which Flocke was born a few years ago, has pups again this spring. When they are a week old, the veterinarian checks their health. During their examination, they are wormed, immunized, and marked with electronic chips. We pick the strongest male out of the litter, and his siblings remain in the pack so the female can raise them herself.

We name the little pup Nanuk, which means “polar bear” in the Inuit language. From the beginning, Nanuk is of a totally different caliber from the once deathly ill little Flocke. As a young pup, he has big character differences that can already be distinguished. At four weeks, Nanuk leaves our house and wants to stay in the yard. We install an electric fence in order to make our property escape-proof. From now on, Nanuk spends the days in the yard; evenings, I shut him on the porch, where he is protected from the wind and rain. The dog, Senta, avoids him. She wants nothing to do with him. Raising one wolf is enough for one dog’s life.

For company, the pup enlists our two-year-old female dachshund Drossel day and night. Nanuk is five weeks old and exactly the right size for Drossel. They romp and play around the clock; to sleep, they lie crowded together in the dog basket. Nanuk continues to receive his little bottle from me. Once, when he spits out a handful of dachshund hair after drinking his milk, it becomes clear to me how brave Drossel must be when they play. In less than two weeks the dog saves herself from Nanuk on the safe height of the table in the yard. It is interesting that the little wolf doesn’t show any aggression toward me at this age as Flocke did. Thus my earlier supposition is confirmed. With Flocke, the dog Senta took on the role of mother. She protected and nursed the little wolf around the clock. Since I was constantly nearby, Flocke categorized me as one of her siblings. With Nanuk, I adopt the role of mother, and Drossel is the “wolf sister.”

Admission to the PackIt’s actually quite unusual that a little pup would trust itself so far away from its “mother den,” but our sterile yard apparently has become too dull for Nanuk. It is now high time to introduce him to the pack. I’m aware that this undertaking is not without danger. If something goes wrong, Nanuk could be killed with a single bite. Tensions can build up among the wolves in the enclosure and it would be possible--though inexplicable to us--for the pack members to react angrily to him.

Both Flocke and Chinook have already gotten to know Nanuk indirectly. Since the pup has lived in our house, they have inspected me very carefully every time I visit their enclosure. Flocke, in particular, sniffs me very intensely every time--concentrating on my hands, my lap, and my shirt--and can hardly tear herself away. What could she be thinking? Indeed, as alpha female, she made very certain during the mating season that no one but she could get pregnant. I had to avoid her, and now I appear with a pup. She probably no longer understands the world.

To prevent every possible risk, the first real meeting is arranged to occur on neutral ground. We go for a walk together. For the experienced Chinook, it’s love at first sight. He already had pups once with his earlier partner, so he knows right away what is to be done. He immediately follows Nanuk step by step and never lets him out of his sight. Flocke, in contrast, is somewhat awkward and appears not to know what to do with Nanuk. Her feelings seem mixed. On the one hand, she submits herself to him; on the other, she jumps up immediately and tries to get out of his way when he comes too close to her. We have to take many walks together before I can be certain that Flocke has fully accepted the little one.

In the meantime, to gradually get Nanuk used to the enclosure, I take him there for a couple of hours in the afternoons. Compared to our yard it is a paradise for him: a big pond to splash in, holes to hide in, feathers and bones to play with, and most important of all, two wolves available for every form of entertainment. Despite all of this, at first Nanuk welcomes my return in the late afternoon to pick him up and take him home. He’s so tired from playing that he falls asleep in my arms on the way. But it doesn’t take much longer before he feels on top of the world in the enclosure. I decide to leave him with his new family.

Table of Contents

Table of content

Foreword

Living with Wolves

January A Human among Wolves Mating Season Life in the Pack

Flocke Rearing a Wolf Pup A Dog as Foster Mother The Unruly Instinct to Play From a Human Family to Wolf Society The Instinct to Hunt

Chinook A New Wolf in the Family Enclosure and Freedom The Foundation of Trust between Human and Wolf Wolf Partner Test

Nanuk Dietary Habits Desire for Freedom Admission to the Pack

Waiting for Pups Hierarchy Struggles Mating and Pregnancy

Wolf Country: Wolf Distribution Yesterday and Today

From Lord of the Wilderness to Endangered Species My Dream: The Wolves Visit Territorial Range Of Wolves and Humans: Some Evolutionary History Legends, Myths, Fairy Tales

Wolf and Human Early Domestication Wolf Pack and Family Unit Similarities between Wolves and Humans Wolf Behavior and Human Behavior

Life in the Pack Goes On

Integration into the Pack Need for Retreat and Protection Socialization in the Pack Eating Habits

Communication between Wolves and People Reaction to Being Called by Name Relating to Females and Males

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Postscript

Author Bio

Tanja Askani has been bonding with animals since she was a child. She established the first wolf pack in the Lüneburger Heide Wildlife Preserve in 1998 and continues to care for its wolf packs in addition to many other animals. She lives in Germany.

Reviews

Reviews

Book Praise

Book Praise

“Wolves are the poster animals for showing just how complex our relationships with other animals can be. If these magnificent beasts could read, they’d love this book.”Marc Bekoff, co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, author of Animal Passions and Beastly Virtues, and editor of the three-volume Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior

“. . . great insight into the world of the wolf. . . . the charming, diary-like writing style and the plethora of color close-ups of the wolves will enchant wolf lovers.” Nancy Bent, Booklist, Oct 2006

“This is not a scientific treatise but a warm and carefully observed portrait of one woman's efforts to change our perceptions of the sadly reviled wolf. The numerous photographs--close up, striking, and informative--will make animal lovers weak in the knees." Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal, Nov 2006

Back Cover

Back Cover Copy

NATURE / ANIMALS

“Wolves are the poster animals for showing just how complex our relationships with other animals can be. If these magnificent beasts could read, they’d love this book.”--Marc Bekoff, co-founder with Jane Goodall of Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, author of Animal Passions and Beastly Virtues, and editor of the three-volume Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior

In the past, animals had worth to people only if they were edible, could carry heavy loads obediently, or had some other practical use. Recently, however, we have started to realize what we have lost through the extinction of so many wild creatures. Every step we take away from nature we pay for with a loss of understanding and wisdom. What we persecute and exterminate in the outer world we also eradicate in our souls. The highly stigmatized wolf, brought nearly to extinction by humans, is one part of our natural world whose value and wisdom we are just beginning to understand.

In Kinship with the Wolf, a heartfelt examination of the wolf as a spiritual and ecological role model, Tanja Askani reveals a new facet of relating to wolves and to the world as a whole. Unlike other wolf researchers who strive to dominate these “vicious predators” and who measure their success by how much the wolf pack obeys them, Askani bases her wolf relationships on broad respect and knowledge as well as extraordinary empathy and love. Through detailed descriptions of her eight years living with wolves at the Lüneburger Heide Wildlife Preserve in Germany, she reveals a new picture of the wolf as a highly intelligent, social, sensitive creature that brings inestimable value to healthy natural systems. Her respect for the pack’s autonomous rules and her sensitivity to the wolves’ changing feelings and moods clearly distinguishes her from others who work with wolves. Her ability to communicate with and relate to wolves is a model of how we can respond to the intelligent complexity of life with care, respect, and wisdom and how we can maintain an intensive connection to the natural world without exercising human dominance.

Tanja Askani has been bonding with animals since she was a child. She established the first wolf pack in the Lüneburger Heide Wildlife Preserve in 1998 and continues to care for its wolf packs in addition to many other animals. She lives in Germany.

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